Judge Vanessa Baraitser said she had refused his extradition because of fears that he could take his own life.  The US government said it would appeal the decision. US prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks' publication of leaked military and diplomatic documents in 2010, Sky News reports. He was re-arrested in September over the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison. The indictment claims he conspired with army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to crack a scrambled password, known as "hash", to a classified US defence department computer. Assange denies plotting with Manning to crack an encrypted password on US Department of Defence computers and claims there is no evidence anyone's safety was put at risk.

 

He appeared at the Old Bailey on Monday where Judge Baraitser delivered her judgment. His lawyers argued that he was acting as a journalist and is entitled to First Amendment protections of freedom of speech for publishing leaked documents that exposed US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the judge rejected these claims, saying his conduct "would therefore amount to offenses in this jurisdiction that would not be protected by his right to freedom of speech."